Railroad-frog



' 3 Sheets-Sheet 1,

(No Model.)

G. B. PRICE RAILROAD FROG Mar. 5, 1889.

a Sheets- Sheet 2.

(N0 Model.)

0 B. PRIOR.

RAILROAD FROG.

Mar. 5, 1889.

2; Patent %,/6 WM 2.1w? m E EE l MP) l 3 Sheets-Slieet 3.

(No Model.)

0. B. PRICE.

RAILROAD FROG.

Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT @EETcE.

RAILROAD-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 398,975, dated March 5,1889.

Application filed July 5, 1888.

To aZZ whom, it only concern:

3e it known that I, CHARLES E. PRICE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pittsburg, .\lleghen v county, State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in RailroadFrogs, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to railway-"frogs, and more 1mrticularly to thatclass of frogs which is patented to me in United States Letters PatentNo. 353,002, in which there is an unbroken main-line rail and the frogis made movable, so thatwhen the main line is open it is moved entirelyaway from the main-line track; but when it isdesired to have the trainpass on the siding the frog is moved into place, and is of suchconstruction that the wheels of the cars passing to and from the sidingwill ride over the main-line rail upon a practically unbroken track.

The object. oi. my present invention is to improve the construction andarrangement of such frogs and the means of operating them,

whereby they shall be simple and positive in their action and moreeffectually accomplish the results desired; and to these ends myinvention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts,substantiallyas hereinafter more particularly set forth.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan of a railwayand siding having my improvemcnts embodied therewith and showing theparts in position for the passage of the train upon the main line. Fig.2 is asimilar view showing the parts in position tor the passage oi. thetrain to the side track. l igs. 3 and t are trz'insverse sections of thefrog on the lines .11.! and 7 p, re

spectively, looking in the direction of the ara good bearing for-themoving apparatus, and

row 2. Fig, 5 is a perspective view showing the frog in its positionover the. main-line track. Fig. o is a side view of the same. Fig. 7 isanother perspective view showing one portion of the frog and the springfrog-rail, and Fig. 8 is an elevation of the switch-stand.

In the drawings, A is one of the main-linetrack rails.

A is the other main-line rail, which is bent to form the outside rail,B, of the side track.

Serial Nd. 279,104. (No model.)

A, the portion A of which is not secured to the sleepers, but is taperedat its end to form one of the points of the switch.

B is the other rail of the side track, and B is the leading-in rail. ofthe side track, and is fixed at one end by the chair Z), and theotherend is tapered to form the other point of. the switch. The leading-inrail l3 and the movable portion A of the main rail are connected by asuitable plate or bar, C, so that they will move together, as is usualwith the switch-points, and these may be moved by any suitable devices,although I prefer to make use of those to be hm'einafter described. Theguard-rails D 1) are placed parallel to the main and side track. railsadjacent to the frog in the usual manner.

The movable frog 1 consis essentially, of

5 two sections, 2 3, the outer ends of which are A is a continuation ofthe main-line rail pivoted at the points i- 5, respectively, and arepivoted together at the point ($,so as to be moved in unison. Thesection 2 of the frog, which is shown more particularly in Figs. 5, (I,and 7, consists, essentially, ot a body portion forming a tread, T,which, when the frog in position, formsa continuation of the rail B, andthis tread is extended into a flange, 8, which passes over and restsupon the face of the main-line rail A as shown more particularly inFigs. 13 and 7. This liange gradually tapers on its upper surface towardthe point 9, and thus forms an inclined wayfor the passage of the wheelsof the ears il", perehance, the train should. pass over the main linewhen the frog is set for the siding. The free end of the section ispointed at 10, and recessed adjacent to the point along the tread T at11, to furnish a free passage for the flange of the wheels, and the base12 is extended. to furnish has an extended slot, (3, to permit themovement of the sections 2 and 3 together.

The section 2 is intended more especially as aguard-rail, but is soformed that the flange 13 rests upon the top of the main-line rail A andis tapered or inclined toward its end 5, so that the wheels of the trainpassing over the main line when the frog is in position will ride up theincline without danger of derailment. The free end it ol? this section 3is bent, as shown, and when the frog is in position it lies upon thebase 12 and against the portion 11. of the frog-section 2, and thus itserves both as a guide-rail for the train passing over the frog and as ameans of elevating the train on the main line, as before set forthvConnected to or forming an extension of the leading-in rail B is thespring guard-rail 15, which is arranged to lie normally away from butinside of the main rail A when the frog is set for the main line; butwhen the frog is moved in position for the siding the spring guard-railis also moved up to and against the inside of said rail A and forms 'apractically unbroken continuation or connection of the tread between theleading-in rail B and the frog-section 2, as shown in Figs. 2 and '7.This spring guard-rail may be moved by any preferred means, but shouldbe provided with the spring device 16, which will permit of its beingforced away from the main-line track by the flange of the wheels of tl1etrain passing over the main line when the frog is'set for the siding.

Itis understood that the switch-points are also provided with the usualspringdevices, 16, so that they may be forced away from the main-linetrack to permit the passage of the train when necessary. It will thus beseen that even when the frog is set in position to transfer to thesiding and through inadvertence a train passes on the main line over thefrog the guard-rail 15 will be automatically moved away by the flangesof the wheels of the train, and the train will ride up and down theinclines of the frog-sections and safely pass over them without dangerof derailment. This arrangement is not only a safeguard to the ordinarypassage of trains, but permits the use of the ropein side tracking cars,as it will be readily understood that the engine can be in a positionbetween the switch-points and the frog, and then the points and frog canbe set in position for the side track and the car connected to theengine by the rope will readily pass along a practically continuous sidetrack, while the engine moves safely over the frog along the unbrokenmain track.

It will be observed, further, that by makin g the frog in two sectionsconnected to move together and pivoting each section at its outermostend I am enabled to throw the frog away from and clear of the main trackby a comparatively slight movement of the operating mechanism, and theadvantages of this construction are evident to those skilled in the art.

\Vhile, as before stated, the switch-points and frog-sections may beoperated by any suitable and proper means, I have produced anarrangement which I have found exceedingly simple and effective, andwhich I preferably make use of, and this consists, essentially, in aswitch-stand, 17 preferably having the usual target, 18, arrangedthereon, and provided with the usual handle formovin it. In the lowerpart of this switch-stand is arranged a wheel or lever, 19, connected tothe rod of the stand, and on the under side of this wheel is attachedthe connecting-bar 20,whieh is used to operate the switch-points throughthe connection 0, and it will be seen that by turning the switch-rod aquarter-turn one way or the other, as the case may be, the switch-pointsare moved into and out of contact with the main-line rails in the usualmanner. V

Adjacent to the track and opposite the frogsections I arrange anotherwheel or lever, 21, supported in a suitable frame, 22, and to the underside of this wheel, at diametrically-opposite points, I pivotall ysecure the connectingrods 22 23, the former of which is connected to thespring frog-rail 15, and the other, 23,1s

connected to the base 12 of the frogsections.

It will thus be seen that when the wheel 21 is rotated a cpiartenturnonly the connectingrods operate to simultaneously move the springguard-rail and the frog-sections to or from the mainline track, and whenthe frog is moved to position for the side track, as shown in Fig. 2, itwill be observed that the connecting-rods 22 23 are substantially inline and upon their dead-points, so that the frog is securely locked inposition against accidental derangement.

In order that the switch-points and frog may be operated simultaneously,I connect the wheel 19 of the swit'eh-stand with the wheel 21 by meansof a suitable chain, rod, or other similar device, and in the presentinstance I have shown the rods 24 25 connected at their ends to chainsor links 26, which are fastened to the wheels, so as to move positivelywith them. In the present case I have fastened the chain to the wheel 19by means of a pin, 27, Fig. 8, and the chain is similarly fastened tothe wheel 21. By this arrangementit will be seen that whether theswitch-lever is turned one way or the other to open or close the switchit will always exert a pulling action upon the wheel 21. For instance,when the lever 28 of the switch-stand is turned to the right the forceis exerted through the rod 25 to turn the wheel 21 in the same directionand to close the frog, and when, on the contrary, the lever is turned tothe left the pull upon the wheel 21 is by means of the rod 24, and turnsthe said wheel to the left to open 'the frog. This arrangement ofdevices is very advantageous, especially in this class ofswitch and frogdevices, as it enables the operator to have a positive connectionbetween the parts that will insure their operating together; and thisarrangement can be applied not only to such connections, but to allswitch-and-frog operating devices, and it will be observed that I amenabled to use it with equal facility even when the connections areobliged to pass around corners or angles, asI avoid the usual thrust tomove the rod in one direction, and get a distinct pulling action in eachmovement of the switch.

Another feature of advantage which is ap parent from the use of myoperating means over the ordinary crank-rod is, that in the use of theeranlnrod in order to get a full throw the switch-arm. has to make afull half-circle or turn, whereas by the use of my appliances to get acomplete and full throw only a quarterturn is necessary. Thus theordinary switch signal-lamps can be placed dircctly upon theswitclrshaft, and when the switch moved to one position for the maintrack. the white lights will be disclosed both up and down the track,and when, on the contrary, it is moved. to the side track the red lightswill be disclosed in both directions.

\Yhile I have thus described what I consider to be the best embodimcntofmy invention, it will be evident that the details of construction andarrangement may be greatlyvaried without departing from vention may beused alone or in combination with the parts shown, or with otherequivalent parts.

\Vhat I claim is 1. A movable frog constructed in two parts arranged tobe thrown on and oil the main rail at one side thereof, substantially asdescribed.

2. A movable frog constructed in two parts hinged together and arrangedat one side of the main rail to be operated by a single connection tothrow them upon the said main rail, substantially as described.

3. A movable irog constructed in two parts connected to move togetherattheir inner ends and arranged to be moved simultaneously to and from themain rail, the outer ends of the two parts being pivotally attached tothe track and arranged at one side of the main rail, substantially asdescribed.

i. A movable frog constructed in two sections pivoted attheir outer endsat one side of the main rail, in combination with an actuating deviceconnected to the sections at their inner ends, substantially asdescribed.

5. A movable frog constructed in two parts hinged together and arrangedto be operated simultaneiimsly, one part acting to form a continuationoi the side-track. rail and the other operating as a guide-railtherefor, substantially as described.

6. A movable frog constructed in two parts and connected to movetogether, one part forming a continuation of the sidetrack rail and aninclined way for the main traclc, and the other part forming a guard forthe sidetrack rail and an inclined way for the main track,substai'itially as described.

7. A. movable frog consisting of two sect-ions connected together, onesection being pivoted at one end adjacent to the sidetrack rail andarranged to form a continuation of said rail, and having a flangearranged to overlap the main rail and furnishing a bearing for thewheels, and the other section being pivotally i mounted adjacent to themain rail, substantially as described.

the spirit thereof, and that certain features of the ini S. A movablefrog consisting of two sections connected togethenone section beingpivoted at one end adjacent to the side-track rail and arranged to forma eontinuatimi of said rail, and havin a flange arranged to overlap themain rail and it'urnishing a bearing for the wheels, and having arecess, as ll, for the passage of the wheel-flanges, substantially asdescribed.

9. A movable frog consisting oi? two sections connected together, onesection being pivoted at one end adjaccntto the main track and having aninclinedii'lange, as 1 adapted to overlap the main rail, the free endbeing bent to act as a guard-rail, substantially as described.

10. A movable frog consisting of two sections, one having an extendedbase to which the other is pivoted, and a cimnecting-rod sccured to saidbase for operating the sections simultaneously, substantially asdescribed.

11.. The combination, with a main rail, of a movable frog on one side ofsaid main rail, and a spring rail on the opposite side oflthe main railmovable independently of the frog, substantially as described.

12. The combination, with the main rail, of a movable frog consisting oftwo sections pivotally connected together and arranged to form acontinuation of the side-track rail, and a spring-rail movableindependently of the frog and arranged to form a continuation of theleading-in rail, substantially as described.

The combination, with the main rail, of a movable frog consistin of twosections pivoted together and arranged one side of the main rail, and aspring-rail movable independently of the frog arranged at the othersideof the main rail, and connecting-rods for the frog and springrail,the said rods being secured to the opposite sides of the operatingwheel,substantially as described.

1;. The combinai ion, with the movable frog consisting of two sections,one forming a continuation of the side-track rail and having a flangeoverlapping the main rail, the other section forminga guard-rail for thefrog and having a flange overlapping the main rail, of a spring-railforming a continuation of the leading-in rail, and connections with thefrograil and spring-rail for moving them simultaneously, substantiallyas described.

15. The combination, with a continuous main-line rail, of a movable frogforminga continuation of the side-track rail and hav ing a portionoverlapping the main rail and a spring-rail movable independently of thefrog constructed to meet the overlapping portion of the frog andconstituting therewith a practically continuous side-track rail over themain rail, substantially as described.

16. The combination, with the movablefrogsection having a pointed ilangeoverlapping the main-track rail, of a spring-rail arranged to completethe leading-in rail and protect said flange-point, substantially asdescribed.

l7. The combination, with a switch-staml ITO connected to operate theswitch-points upon a quarteriurn, of a movable frog and guard railpivoted at two points upon the same side of the main rail, and 0eratiug-wl1ee1 e011- neeted to opemre both u pen. a quarter-turn, andconnecting-rods between the operatingwheelv and switch-stand, wherebythe wheel is operated. by :1 direct pull in either direction,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name IO to this specification inthe presence of two subscribingwitnesses. v

CHARLES B. PRICE.

W itneses:

E. 1%. BATES, A. II. KELLoee.

